BA Club bargains to Hawaii
Discussion
"Cheap" is a relative term, but I've just been looking at some pretty bloody cheap business class flights on BA.
The catch is that you have to start in Dublin (ie buy a cheap one way "locator" flight to enable you to start the flight). But the itinerary I was looking out was
Dublin -> London City; London City -> JFK (on the all business class BA flight that touches down at Shannon to pre-clear US immigration); JFK to Honolulu via LAX; each leg on consecutive days at the beginning of August
Return is the same thing backwards, again on consecutive days at the end of August but the final leg can be Heathrow to DUB. Haven't worked out whether the stopover in LA can be extended. Internal US flights are (I guess) AA business class.
Pricing at £1098 return, which would be very good just to go LON-NY in business.
You can play around with prices and routes here: Matrix.itasoftware.com
The catch is that you have to start in Dublin (ie buy a cheap one way "locator" flight to enable you to start the flight). But the itinerary I was looking out was
Dublin -> London City; London City -> JFK (on the all business class BA flight that touches down at Shannon to pre-clear US immigration); JFK to Honolulu via LAX; each leg on consecutive days at the beginning of August
Return is the same thing backwards, again on consecutive days at the end of August but the final leg can be Heathrow to DUB. Haven't worked out whether the stopover in LA can be extended. Internal US flights are (I guess) AA business class.
Pricing at £1098 return, which would be very good just to go LON-NY in business.
You can play around with prices and routes here: Matrix.itasoftware.com
The reason that this fare is so low is that it is a sale fair.
The price of a straight BA ex-Heathrow flight to LA is £2.5k:
But you can see from the fare breakdown that the UK APD amounts to "only" £142 of that fare (and BA's fuel surcharge is another £100 or so). The base fare each way is where the big differences are.
We do get ripped off in the UK, but not because of the Govt, because of BA's differential pricing, and (as I see it) the fact that their ex-EUR sale fares tend to be much more heavily reduced than their UK-based sale fares.
The price of a straight BA ex-Heathrow flight to LA is £2.5k:
But you can see from the fare breakdown that the UK APD amounts to "only" £142 of that fare (and BA's fuel surcharge is another £100 or so). The base fare each way is where the big differences are.
We do get ripped off in the UK, but not because of the Govt, because of BA's differential pricing, and (as I see it) the fact that their ex-EUR sale fares tend to be much more heavily reduced than their UK-based sale fares.
DJRC said:
Do you know or have an idea which are the cheap deals before you input what you look for?
Yes, more or less. Multi city trip originating in Dublin or Amsterdam (quick to get to from London) to London, then to a N Am destination (or two, eg JFK, then onwards to somewhere else), then return the same way.
Make sure each sector in the out bound and each on the return are on consec day as > 24h between flights ceases to count as a stopover and usually bumps the price. Some days are cheaper than others - eg that first example doesn't work at all if you shift each of the outbound flights back a day.
Also going via JFK seems to work if you specify LCY as the London departure airport rather than LON (all London airports); perhaps that City to JFK service is heavily discounted under this offer.
Also helps to have a London airport change between the last and penultimate leg if you want to drop the last leg and ensure your hold luggage doesn't travel on the final leg.
Yeah, it's not a routng I would choose, that's for sure. We went to Maui a couple of years ago, and flew direct to the west coast, took a couple of days, then flew on. On the way back we took a couple of weeks somewhere else on the WC and flew direct back to London.
However, time is more valuable to me now than it used to be. In my 20s I'd have been on this like a rash.
However, time is more valuable to me now than it used to be. In my 20s I'd have been on this like a rash.
Rollin said:
So is there any catch to this 
? If so I can't see one. We're off to LA and flying back from Denver in August for 21 days and was about to start booking flights. It seems I can get business class for £930 each from Dublin and get a Ryan air to Dublin for about £50. Similar flight from Manchester is £2500 so I'd be saving about £3000 for two passengers.
If so, thanks OP!
The only catch is if you want to avoid taking the last sector and ending up back in Dublin. ? If so I can't see one. We're off to LA and flying back from Denver in August for 21 days and was about to start booking flights. It seems I can get business class for £930 each from Dublin and get a Ryan air to Dublin for about £50. Similar flight from Manchester is £2500 so I'd be saving about £3000 for two passengers.If so, thanks OP!
Eg if you fly DUB-LHR; LHR-LAX; DEN-LHR; LHR-DUB, then when you check in at Denver the agent will check your bags through to Dublin, and if you want to see them again, you will have to travel to Dublin.
The workarounds are (a) book the final sector from Gatwick or City to Dublin, as your bags can't be transferred between airports and so you'll get them back at LHR or (b) book the final sector the day after you land at LHR, but within 24 hours. Overnighting a stopover will get your bags back to you.
FWIW, when I've done this, I take the locator flight to Dublin or Amsterdam on day 1, and fly the first sector (DUB/AMS to LHR) the same day. That's a day trip I can do with a passport and a wallet and nothing more. Day 2 I turn up at LHR with hold luggage to fly sector 2 to N Am. Just make sure sectors 1 and 2 are within 24h of each other.
HTH.
Sheepshanks said:
Greg66 said:
FWIW, when I've done this, I take the locator flight to Dublin or Amsterdam on day 1, and fly the first sector (DUB/AMS to LHR) the same day.
The snag there is that if anything happens to your locator flight there's no breathing space and you're in a lot of trouble.I've read of some people taking the locator at 6am, sector 1 back around noon and the long haul sector 2 that afternoon. That, to me, is like living an episode of Mission: Impossible from the 1960s, without the guarantee of a happy ending.
DJRC said:
Same place as you did, same dates. You got a controlled baseline, I want to establish some deltas.
Follow the matrix.itasoftware.com link. Select the "multi city" tab at the top.
Enter the following flights (you'll need to use the Add Another Flight link. Just enter the airport code and it will be recognised. Be aware that the dates are US style if you enter them manually).
1. DUB to LON (London all airports) 4 Aug
2. LCY to JFK 5 Aug
3. JFK to HNL 6 Aug
4. HNL to JFK 24 Aug
5. JFK to LCY 25 Aug
6. LON to DUB 26 Aug
Cabin: Business class or higher
Stops: No limit
Tick both boxes
Currency leave blank
Sales City: LON
That should produce the fare in the screen dump at the top of the thread.
Hit Search, then from the results page click on the Airline price you like in the header, then whichever set of flights suits.
To make it choose between the best origination/end point, enter DUB, AMS, MUC, ZRH and so on.
ex-AMS instead of ex-DUB for thoe dates is showing at £1695. ex-CPH is £1630. ex-DUB looks to be the best deal, but there's a ton of info here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-exe... and some good prices listed ex-BRU, CPH and ARN.
Silver993tt said:
Exactly. Surely the aim is to spend the least amount and the least time on an aircraft? Fly ecomomy and end up saving enough to pay for a 5 star hotel for a week.
Good idea. Except cheapest club ticket (above) £1097.
Cheapest currently available one stop (Vancouver out, Houston back) economy ticket in August showing on matrix.itasoftware.com: £1209. 21.5 and 24.5 hours in economy. Ouch.
Good luck finding a five star hotel for a week with a £112 hole in your pocket!
tim0409 said:
Just off the phone to BA having booked the following -
Dublin - London City
London City - JFK (night in New York) - on the Club World only A318
JFK - Miami for 10 nights First/Business Class (American Airlines)
then the same in reverse. Paid in euros with my Halifax Clarity card so worked out £930 each which is great deal even when you factor in the extra trip from Edinburgh - Dublin (Ryanair £20). TBH I like flying club world so it isn't much of a chore.
I frequent the Flyer Talk forum which is an excellent source of info/flight deals.
Dublin - London City
London City - JFK (night in New York) - on the Club World only A318
JFK - Miami for 10 nights First/Business Class (American Airlines)
then the same in reverse. Paid in euros with my Halifax Clarity card so worked out £930 each which is great deal even when you factor in the extra trip from Edinburgh - Dublin (Ryanair £20). TBH I like flying club world so it isn't much of a chore.
I frequent the Flyer Talk forum which is an excellent source of info/flight deals.
Steviesam said:
So do you just call the relevant airline and quote the flight numbers that website tells you?
Will they see those cheap prices?
That's how I did it. Will they see those cheap prices?
Including having the BA agent say the price, then say "Wow. That's an amazing price!".
ETA: I think the sale ends tomorrow - 27 Jan - btw.
Steviesam said:
Another question.
Where the trip displayed includes more than one airline, do I call each airline separately?
No - just pick one airline and they will book it all (so long as they are all part of Oneworld). Where the trip displayed includes more than one airline, do I call each airline separately?
Eg BA can issue you a ticket on an AA flight and vice versa.
Often though, the flight number is a bit of a red herring. Eg the BA London to Vancouver flight also has Finnair, Iberian and American Airlines flight numbers. Those airlines codeshare the flight with BA, but BA operates it and it uses BA "metal". Any of those airlines can issue you a ticket to fly on that flight though.
Steviesam said:
The flights I am looking at are
Swiss from Dublin to Zurich
Swiss from Zurich to Boston
Canada Air from Boston to Montreal
Swiss Montreal to Zurich
Swiss from Zurich to Dublin
So I just call Swiss?
Yes. Swiss and AC are both Star Alliance members. I'd guess each of those flights are codeshares with Swiss and AC flight numbers. Swiss from Dublin to Zurich
Swiss from Zurich to Boston
Canada Air from Boston to Montreal
Swiss Montreal to Zurich
Swiss from Zurich to Dublin
So I just call Swiss?
Welshbeef said:
Grumpy that short haul passengers are subsidising these great deals - and if you have young kids long haul isn't an option. Grr
Long haul is ok with small kids: we took ours transatlantic twice a year from when they were born. You have to plan a bit more, and it is not as relaxing as not having kids, or having older kids, but it is perfectly doable. In fact both our girls worked out how to sleep through the night for the first time in N America, and not here (and they were dopey sleepers before working it out). Welshbeef said:
Neither of our 2 sleep through the night.
Ie last night 18 times awake screaming crying (baby) and about 5 times 3yo. It would be Hell and also for other passengers too - imagine we went club sitting in pods next to you the crying and noise keeping you awake all night long even though you have spent thousands ?
Personally, I wouldn't mind (but I know others would). First, because it's public transport; secondly, because booze + over-ear noise cancelling headphones plus music are a pretty good counter-measure; thirdly, because these things can happen, and there's no point getting too worked up about it; and fourthly because I'd forewarn you (on here) that one of the secrets to managing small children on long flights is drugs. Ie last night 18 times awake screaming crying (baby) and about 5 times 3yo. It would be Hell and also for other passengers too - imagine we went club sitting in pods next to you the crying and noise keeping you awake all night long even though you have spent thousands ?
Over the counter kids' medicines, that is. Something to - ahem - "help" them sleep. We used to let them run around a bit in the airport, get some food into them, let them watch a film, then drug 'em.
Harsh but fair.
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